Corrupt Lands
by Tainted-Oddity
Summary: The great and notorious adventure told by Link's POV as he slowly loses his childish innocence and is forced into a premature adulthood, fighting madness, fright and despair. A realistic take on the hero's life, thoughts, and evolution through his journey to save Hyrule... Rated M for gruesome/gory descriptions in future chapters. angst/adventure/horror R


_**Author's** **note:**_

_I have always pictured Ocarina of Time's universe to be unnervingly and maddeningly dark and gruesome, especially for a young child who has never known anything else than playing with fairies and other kids, perfectly unaware of what the world might be like outside the forest he's been cloistered in._  
_I'm trying my best to picture accurately Link's thoughts and feelings as he discovers the reality of a monster-and-undead-filled cursed world through his own vision, perception, and understanding of the world, from the young innocent child he once was, to the heavily burdained adult he became._

_Also, yes it is intentional that child Link's part is written in the present tense, whereas adult Link's part is in the past. It expresses one of the main differences between the lives of a child (who expresses his thoughts impulsively as they come through a limited perception and understanding of what goes on around him, and lives his life day-by-day in the present), and of an adult (who reflects more deeply on past and future events and analyses every aspect of his surroundings with reasonning and logical thinking)._

_In short, deep and heavy character development is all what this story is about. Please R&R!_

* * *

I'm just a kid.  
I don't even know my exact age or birth day, but the big honorable tree said I was 10.  
I've lived all my life in the woods alone with other kids and fairies.  
Other than playing and being bullied, I don't know anything.

How did I get myself into this?

I thought it was my lucky day when a fairy came to me.  
She said the great tree wanted to talk to me. I didn't understand why, and I still don't.

He talked to me for hours on end about destiny and a lot of things that seem very important, but I don't remember half of it. I wasn't paying attention.  
Well, to tell the truth, I was at first, but it was all so complicated –not to mention pretty boring too- that my mind slowly slipped away. Who am I to understand mature adult things after all? I'm just a kid…

All I understood is that he's sick… somehow… and that I am the one who can heal him…  
…somehow.  
I don't even know what to do.  
I don't even know what is going on.  
Will I be allowed to go back to my house and play with my new fairy after? Also, I'm hungry. I didn't have breakfast.

Now here I am, inside this old forest guardian. It's dark, gloomy, damp, and full of creepy crawlies. I don't like it. I want to go home.

Aah! What is this? I just stepped on something springy and sticky. It made me jump back in surprise and startled my fairy too.  
Yuck! No way! It's some kind of giant spiderweb! I hate spiders, they look like monsters! I hope the spiders aren't too big…

I don't know where to go. How am I supposed to find what is making the great tree sick? Will it look like a virus? What does a virus look like?

I think I see some kind of large flower on the ground next to the wall. I'm curious. I don't remember seeing these flowers anywhere before.

Eek! It just tried to eat me! No joking! This is so scary! The flower grew all of a sudden when I neared it and it had this big mouth with sharp teeth and snapped at me! It's a monster! My fairy wants me to kill it with my new sword, but I don't know how to use a sword! And I don't know how to kill! And this thing is too scary! All I know about swords is those made of branches I made when I played with other kids in the forest, but this thing on my back is so heavy! And it's sharp! I don't want to hurt myself trying to swing it!

I guess I will have to. I just need to focus my blow and let the blade drop with all its weight on the big thing and hope it's enough to slice it… if I add some strength it might help… but what if the thing tries to bite me again? Ah, I don't want to see this, I'm scared, I'll just keep my eyes tightly shut and… and… hah… I'm alive. It… worked?

It worked! I'm so happy!  
Was this what made our father sick? Did I really heal him? That wasn't too… hard, I guess.  
In fact, I feel proud.  
I'm still shaking though…

Let's hurry out now.

EEK! AAH! ON NO WHAT! WHAT IS THIS? AHH! A SPIDER! And it's ginormous! Yuck! It fell from above right in front of me! Ahh! My heart nearly stopped! It looks monstrous, it's as big as me, ugly, its eyes are glowing, and its back is covered with a thick shell that has the shape of… a skull? What does this mean? What is going on here? Maybe I should have paid more attention to what the great tree said!

But why me? I'm just a kid! I don't even know how to lift and swing a real metal sword properly! And this place is full of monsters and other horrors I wasn't ready for at all!  
I'm scared. I don't even know what else is in here. I don't wanna know either.  
I don't want to do this, I don't.  
Okay I am a scaredy-cat, allright.  
Why chose me? Why not chose… Mido? As much as I don't like him, he's still more brave than I am.  
Or at least he acts like it.

I'm sitting in a corner, trying to make sense of what is going on, and trying to calm myself down. My fairy isn't of much help, but at least serves as a companion I can talk to, a friendly presence that reminds me that I am not all alone with myself in this dark place.  
I'm still shaking; I don't think I'll stop.

It's so silent here, I did not notice before. Maybe I do now because I'm scared and my sense are like more alert and stuff. That's what my fairy told me. She said it's normal.  
It smells like damp rotting wood.  
I don't like that smell.  
I like the smell of the grilled fish my best friend Saria sometimes prepares for lunch when we're out playing.

I want to smell it now.  
I want to see the sun shining through the trees.  
I want to hear my friend's happy voice.  
I don't want to be here.  
I don't want any monsters or dangerous things.  
I don't want to have to go deeper and kill living things.  
I…

I…

_I'm crying._


End file.
